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Xerarch 448

Xerarch 448

It was 57 degrees here in Northern Ohio today, January 8th. In fact we’ve only really had one cold streak so far this winter, it got down to about 18 degrees in December for the lowest so far. That means if I had planted a bunch of Sabal Palmetto in the summer they would still be doing great. I’ve been reading since mid December numerous articles and here on PT about a supposed polar vortex coming this year but it keeps getting pushed off and pushed off. I don’t even see anything that critical as far out as the forecast goes. I don’t believe for a second that we’ve already seen the worst of winter this year, but it’s got to come sometime.

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UK_Palms
109

UK_Palms 109

You're not alone, it has been abnormally mild on our side of the Atlantic as well. Not quite as high as 57F, but we have had a lot of days around 45-50F and hardly any nights reach freezing. The coldest we have had here was 23F, but that was a one-off. The next coldest night was only 27F, but we have only had about 7-8 frosts in total so far this winter, most only dropping to 31-32F.

I have also seen all the fearmongering about a supposed 'polar vortex' for weeks now. Judging by my forecast, it won't be happening anytime soon, certainly not in January anyway. I fear February could be cold though as last year we had a mild start to winter as well, but right at the end of winter we got hit with our coldest weather in 20 years. Snow and lows down to 12F at the back end of February. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen again this year.

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Opal92
712

Opal92 712

You're not alone, it has been abnormally mild on our side of the Atlantic as well. Not quite as high as 57F, but we have had a lot of days around 45-50F and hardly any nights reach freezing. The coldest we have had here was 23F, but that was a one-off. The next coldest night was only 27F, but we have only had about 7-8 frosts in total so far this winter, most only dropping to 31-32F.

I have also seen all the fearmongering about a supposed 'polar vortex' for weeks now. Judging by my forecast, it won't be happening anytime soon, certainly not in January anyway. I fear February could be cold though as last year we had a mild start to winter as well, but right at the end of winter we got hit with our coldest weather in 20 years. Snow and lows down to 12F at the back end of February. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen again this year.

Well, the Mediterranean region has sure felt the effects of the Polar Vortex with the snow all the way into Italy and Crete- it just remains to be seen how much the lobe over North America may affect the US.

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Xerarch 448

Xerarch 448

Well, the Mediterranean region has sure felt the effects of the Polar Vortex with the snow all the way into Italy and Crete- it just remains to be seen how much the lobe over North America may affect the US.

Western US has been pretty cold, lots of posts from California on the forum telling of low temps, just hasn’t hit here yet.

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Chester B
94

Chester B 94

Western US has been pretty cold, lots of posts from California on the forum telling of low temps, just hasn’t hit here yet.

Maybe in California but in the PNW it's been very mild. There have been two nights so far that we've dipped below freezing, with the coldest night dropping to 28F, and those were the only nights we experienced frost. In addition there have been maybe 3 or 4 days where we didn't reach 40F, with average daytime highs this winter being between 45-50F. I would estimate total time below freezing this year would be in the range of 4-5 hours. We're in the final stages of our winter as late January we start warming up again, and so far the trend looks like it's going to hold. We were predicted to have a slightly warmer and drier winter this year and so far (fortunately) they have been correct.

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PalmatierMeg 2,739

PalmatierMeg 2,739

Been almost scary mild here too. Lowest so far has been 46.8F. The statistical "peak" (nadir?) of winter in Cape Coral is today (Jan. 10). Average temps should start rising again by the end of the month. Weather gurus predicted a "cooler, wetter winter", although cooler doesn't necessarily mean bitter cold. And Dec. fell into that pattern with much higher rain and a period of temps ranging from upper 60s to upper 40s. But around New Year's we went back into a pattern of 80+F and 60s. Yesterday another cold front moved in (60s/40s) but that is expected to be short lived. Another few weeks and chances of lows in the 30s start to decline.

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Xerarch 448

Xerarch 448

Don't get too comfy with these temps. The pattern is almost completed changing. Frigid arctic fronts should start coming down after the 20th. Get any palm covering supplies now!

Yeah the forecast has changed a lot just recently, looks like it will break my so far this winter record of 18 F, but still only down into the low teens thus far in the forecast. Giving me a chance at 8a for the winter if things don’t continue to go down hill.

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UK_Palms
109

UK_Palms 109

-10F is insane! I even see a -13F forecast there in Ohio. Surely it won't get that cold. That is -25C.

Even the toughest Trachycarpus's would get annihilated by that. Fortunei usually defoliates at 0F (-17C) and outright dies at -10F (-23C) and thats mature specimens. Smaller Fortunei can kick the bucket at 5F (-15C).

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enigma99
317

enigma99 317

-10F is insane! I even see a -13F forecast there in Ohio. Surely it won't get that cold. That is -25C.

Even the toughest Trachycarpus's would get annihilated by that. Fortunei usually defoliates at 0F (-17C) and outright dies at -10F (-23C) and thats mature specimens. Smaller Fortunei can kick the bucket at 5F (-15C).

I think the forecast shows -4F actually, which is about right for a winter low there. Actually looks like Akron is warmer than most of the other areas. Do the lakes moderate the temps coming down from the arctic?

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UK_Palms
109

UK_Palms 109

I think the forecast shows -4F actually, which is about right for a winter low there. Actually looks like Akron is warmer than most of the other areas. Do the lakes moderate the temps coming down from the arctic?

-4F for your area. But around Columbus it is going to be down to -13F.

And yeah, any large body of water is going to moderate temperature, especially oceans/seas. The water retains heat better and for longer than the air does, and the water obviously releases the heat. So if you get down to 0F, the lake temperature might still be 30F which offers a warming affect to its surroundings. Which is why places far away from bodies of water get much colder in winter, because they don't benefit from that effect.

I am 35 miles inland and might get a low of 20F (-6C) once or twice a year. But 45 minutes away from me, on the south coast, it won't drop below 30F (-1C) due to the sea moderating the temperature. But then in summer it does the exact opposite and keeps places near to bodies of water cooler. I might see 90F here, but the south coast only reaches 75F. So it goes both ways.

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Xerarch 448

Xerarch 448

Nothing in the actual forecast shows anything near as cold as that map shows yet. The coldest in the 15 day outlook is 10 F right now. Not abnormal for here, we should have already been that cold before this time. Temps below 0 F could be expected any winter by nothing in the forecast yet for that.

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sandgroper
332

sandgroper 332

Yeah as far as we would reckon it Perth has no winters. I think your records around town are maybe just below freezing.

Thats about right, we have relatively comfortable winters here by comparison to many other places. I wear shorts all year round, some mornings are pretty cool but not cold enough to stop me wearing shorts. (I only own one pair of long pants but am going to buy some more)

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I thought I'd start a thread about frost after seeing very thick frost this morning. How often does your climate get frost (if it even does)? Where are you located? Are you in a cold/warm microclimate or have any? Here in Virginia, near Chester, we get frost commonly during the Winter and late Fall. Tree canopy (I use Leyland Cypress for this, it works well) and close proximity to water can protect places here from a lot of the first frosts. Here was the frost this morning, the first picture is from my front yard (exposed to the West) and the second picture is from a lot with Leyland Cypress in it. Notice how the closer you get to the Leyland Cypress the less frost there is. Also keep in mind that this was a pretty heavy frost. With light frosts, it is common for places with dense canopy above to get no frost at all.

About this time every year someone starts a thread about Winter Lows in the Northern Hemisphere. Such a thread is somehow therapeutic for PTers anxious about how cold may affect their palms - at least we know we aren't alone. So, I'll kick off this year's discussion.
This morning was the lowest temp since last March: 48.4F Predicted: 46F Current temp: 56.3F at 10:30 a.m.
Tomorrow's predicted low: 43F
Then a warming trend until the next cold front. I am making no attempts to move/protect palms at this time. After sunup, temps rise quickly.

So I found this pretty neat website where you can click on an exact point on the map and it draws a line in the Northern and Southern hemispheres of where that latitude is. This is pretty crazy because a lot of the places that share my latitude (and many others here) are capable of growing palms that can't grow here (and that are many zones less cold hardy than here) due to those few cold snaps we can get. Here is the site, what areas around the world share your latitude?
http://mapfrappe.com/appisoll.html

Still very new to growing palms, so all advice is greatly appreciated. Just wondering if at this size of the king palms (c), does the occasional mid to low 30’s every now and then require any protection? They receive full sun daily, as they just battled our brutal hot summer sun. Winter over nights usually, down to mid-low 40’s or upper 30’s for a couple hrs. Occasionally dipping down into the low 30’s at worst a few nights throughout December-January. Daytime weather in Dec-January upper 50’s - low 60’s. But plenty of sun light year around

What is the best microclimate in your yard? Mine is a part of my back yard in a corner that faces south it has Leyland Cypress and other trees and bushes all aro around it to the north, which usually protects this area from the first few frosts. Don't mind my two raised beds, the winds from Michael messed them up. The Elephant Ears in the back never bor big like the ones in my front yard.